THE HIGH PLACES, HOWEVER, WERE NOT REMOVED; THE PEOPLE
CONTINUED TO OFFER SACRIFICES AND BURN INCENSE THERE: Although Jehoash was
described as a good king, this goodness did not extend to making the people good
by removing their high places where they worshipped their idols. Hezekiah was
the only one to do this (2Ki 18:22), and even this was immediately be reversed
by his son (2Ki 21:3). We are under a great responsibility to remove the "high
places", as it were, not just from our own lives, but that of the whole
community of believers.
Specific mention is made, several times, of the high places
not being taken away: by Asa (1Ki 15:14); Jehoshaphat (1Ki 22:43); Jehoash (2Ki
12:3); Amaziah (2Ki 14:4); Azariah/Uzziah (2Ki 15:4); and Jotham (2Ki 15:35) --
demonstrating the importance of this action in God's sight. These kings did not
make a full return to God. The high places (which had been used for idol
worship) might have been out of use for the time being, but it seems they were
not totally destroyed until the time of Hezekiah (2Ki 18:4; 2Ch 32:12); and even
then their prohibition did not last beyond his reign (2Ch 33:3).
Do we have other shrines at which we worship? We must be sure
that we remove the "high places" from our lives completely, even if they are
currently "out of use".
2Ki 12:7
Misappropriation of funds.
2Ki 12:15
THEY ACTED WITH COMPLETE HONESTY: "Well done, good and
faithful servant!" (Mat 25:21). "Now it is required that those who have been
given a trust must prove faithful" (1Co 4:2).
Examples of faithfulness in service: Samuel (1Sa 3:20); David
(1Sa 22:14); the temple overseers (2Ki 12:15); the workers (2Ch 34:12); Hananiah
(Neh 7:2); Abraham (Neh 9:8); the treasurers (Neh 13:13); Daniel (Dan 6:4);
Timothy (1Co 4:17); Epaphras (Col 1:7); Tychicus (Col 4:7); Onesimus (Col 4:9);
Paul (1Ti 1:12); Moses (Heb 3:2,5); Gaius (3Jo 1:5); Jesus Christ (Rev 1:5);
Antipas (Rev 2:13).
Cp Luk 16:10; 2Ch 31:12.
"An inscription attributed to Jehoash, the king of Judea who
ruled in Jerusalem at the end of the ninth century BCE, has been authenticated
by experts from the National Infrastructure Ministry's Geological Survey of
Israel following months of examination. The 10-line fragment, which was
apparently found on the Temple Mount, is written in the first person on a black
stone tablet in ancient Phoenician script. The inscription's description of
Temple 'house repairs' ordered by King Jehoash strongly resembles passages in
2Ki 12.
"Dr Gabriel Barkai, a leading Israeli archaeologist from Bar
Ilan University's Land of Israel Studies Department, says that if the
inscription proves to be authentic, the finding is a 'sensation' of the greatest
import. It could be, he says, the most significant archaeological finding yet in
Jerusalem and the Land of Israel. It would be a first-of-its kind piece of
physical evidence describing events in a manner that adheres to the narrative in
the Bible.
"According to Dr Barkai, such a finding, which appears to
furnish proof of the existence of the Temple, must be made available for
examination by scholars, and can not be kept a virtual secret... Sources have
indicated that the writing surfaced in the Temple Mount area as a result of
wide-scale excavation work done in recent years in the area by Muslims, and that
Palestinians relayed the fragment to a major collector of antiquities in
Jerusalem...
"The inscription lauds repairs carried out by King Jehoash in
ways reminiscent of the description in 2Ki. It includes the king's request that
priests collect public money to be used for the repair of the First Temple; and
there are references to the purchase of timber and quarried stones for the
carrying out of repairs on the Temple.
"The inscription contains fragments from 2Ki 12:15: 'And they
did not ask an accounting from the men into whose hands they delivered the money
to pay out to the workmen; for they dealt honestly' " (BAR).
2Ki 12:18
WHO THEN WITHDREW FROM JERUSALEM: But he soon returned:
2Ch 24.